08 Apr Change and Second Innings

Earlier in my 20s, I was a thorough go-getter – be it to get a job or winning a new business or just making hay when the sun shines. Slowly, as I transitioned into my late 20s, though I am still a go-getter, I never quite felt I was going somewhere directional.

Happens, right?

No matter how sure you are of becoming something, you sometimes tilt into directions that were never predicted or mulled over in your mind.

What stays with you is your inner manifestation of all your aspirations and musings – and they don’t change, lest you want to alter your thinking pattern into realizing something else.

And most importantly, your knowledge may become a bit outdated (thank you, change), but your discipline to stay an agile learner will not change.

So what I am trying to deduce here?

Always focus on strengthening things that don’t change.

Let’s take a business example: customer service is fundamental to business success. Kindness and generosity are not affected by kind of change. As with you, your personal brand’s fundamentals: of values, personality and purpose rarely change. You nurture your own philosophy – be it business or personal.

Most of all, you are in control: of your growth compass.

So, why complain?

In a world where change is the only constant, you are your only mirror and your only competition.

Then, why fret about only one go-getting-kind-of success?

There is always an abundance: of opportunities, and of people who wait, patiently, to play in the long-term.

Gary Vaynerchuk says this right: that entrepreneurship is not a tactic; it’s a lifestyle. And this way of thinking can be applied into any context of your life, as long as you are long-term focused and believe in the journey instead of launching into your life’s short-lived, instant-gaining career playbook. Well, if you are, like me, into experiencing career risks at the cost of your happiness and job satisfaction that doesn’t seem to come to you naturally, or at least often, then do try and try and try until you really love what you want out of your life.

But having said that, do believe that you always have second innings: a better version of you chiseled and polished personal brand that can heartily weather change through more learnings and a bit of self-testing over a period of time.

After all, we all have our own clock and a set time in which we truly shine with our developed competencies and potential. So will you.

Guess what, you don’t need to prepare for your second innings. Because somewhere implicitly, you are ready to go all in.

All those failures, introspections, vulnerabilities, job explorations have already prepared you and toughened you to face change more intelligently and strategically.

Your change is your plan, which you can execute better once you know what will be radical and doable in the larger scheme of things.

Here’s to sailing through change, and to your always bountiful second innings that is never too late to experience and live!